By Andrea McCallum
A LIMB specialist has been banned from treating patients after a mix-up with a pensioner’s prosthetic left him with two left feet.
Malcolm Griffiths fitted a left foot to a right amputee and failed to notice for EIGHT months despite two check-ups between November 2006 and June 2007.
The technician was sacked from the Smart disability living centre at Edinburgh’s Astley Ainslie Hospital in 2008.
And yesterday he was officially struck off the Health Profession Council (HPC) register after he admitted 16 charges of incompetence.
The HPC’s Conduct and Competence Committee accepted Griffith’s request to remove his name from register.
Colin Allies, panel chair, explained the decision to grant Griffiths’ removal from the register.
Mr Allies said: “He has admitted the charges against him – the panel has agreed the issue on the basis that the registrant has had the benefit of legal advice and it is his choice to be removed from the register.”
He added that the removal ensured protection of the public as Mr Griffith would not be able to practice.
The panel also stressed that if Mr Griffith decided to reapply to practice as a prosthetist in the future, he would be treated as if he had previously been struck off from the register.
Griffiths- who did not attend the hearing – had been employed as a prosthetist at the SMART Centre at Edinburgh’s Astley Ainslie Hospital.
He was charged with a series of allegations which took place between 2005 -2008 ranging from persistently losing work to taking excessively lengths of time to complete jobs.
Griffiths was sacked by NHS Lothian after the false leg mix-up and faced accusations about his care of 11 separate patients following the incident.
It was Griffiths’ patient, Patrick Morrison, 76, of Bathgate, West Lothian, who received two left feet after a routine operation.
Mr Morrison’s wife, Alexia, 75, only discovered the mistake when she took off his protective sock.
